In his quest to return from a torn Achilles tendon as healthy as possible, Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant sought out the counsel of David Beckham, who suffered the same injury and went on to find success with the LA Galaxy.

"Becks and I have grown to be pretty close since he's been playing in Los Angeles for [the Galaxy] the last five years," Bryant said Friday in a video interview with ESPN.com.br while on vaction in Brazil (via LA Times).

Bryant, 34, suffered a torn left Achilles in an April game against the Golden State Warriors as the Lakers made a push to get favorable positioning in the NBA playoffs. Beckham suffered his torn Achilles in 2010, and made a successful return to the Galaxy.

"He and I talked for quite a bit about his process, and his recovery," Kobe said of Beckham. "He hasn't had any issues with it since. He's won several championships since the injury, so I'm pretty encouraged by that."

Bryant, whose return was originally set at 6-9 months, recently said he expects to return to the court Novemeber or December, which would put him at 7-8 months.

"It's going well," said Bryant of his recovery. "I'm pretty much two months out of surgery, and I'm walking" he said. "I can get up on my toes. I'm pleased with how it's going so far."

With the injury coming so late in his career, Bryant said that seeds of doubt had crept into his mind at one point. He know plans to use that fear of not returning to form as fuel, however.

"You have to allow yourself to think that, because it keeps you on edge. It keeps you motivated. It keeps you strong," he said. "I think for me, once I started hearing everybody else say, 'Well, maybe this is it. Maybe this is too much' — that's what really gave me the determination to see if I can prove them wrong."

Bryant is considered one of the more determined athletes in all of sports, and while he has talked retirement in the past, he does not want to his end his career on an injury.

"You want to be able to go out on your own terms. You don't want to be forced out of the game because of an injury," he said. "You want to feel like when you're leaving the game, you're leaving because you want to."

As the details of Bryant's return become clearer, the future of the Lakers' roster remains clouded by the uncertainty of Dwight Howard's plans in free agency. Bryant is optimistic, but realizes that the Lakers have needs outside of Howard.

"It's a big summer for us. We don't know what direction we're going yet but one thing I know about the Laker organization is that they're very committed to making sure that we have a team that's on the floor that's a competitive team to win a championship," said Bryant. "Which direction that's going to be, whether it's with Dwight or not? I don't know. We'll just have to see."